Conventionally, there has been known a display panel that includes an organic electroluminescence (hereinafter referred to as “organic EL”) element including an anode (positive electrode), a cathode (negative electrode), and an organic layer including a light-emitting layer interposed between the cathode and the anode. In a display panel including the organic EL element, a defect may occur during the manufacturing process. For example, the negative electrode and the positive electrode may be shorted by an electrically conductive foreign substance entering into the organic EL element of the display panel, or the anode and the cathode may be directly shorted due to missing of the light-emitting layer formed between the negative electrode and the positive electrode. In this case, a defective pixel including a defect will experience problems such as a dark spot state in which the pixel is constantly unlit, a bright spot state in which the pixel is constantly lit, an unstable lighting state, and the like. In the case where such problems arise, techniques are available for repairing (eliminating) the defective pixel so as to prevent the shorting from affecting the operation of the organic EL element (e.g., see Patent Literatures 1 to 4).
With the techniques disclosed in Patent Literatures 1 to 4, the defective pixel is repaired, for example, by irradiating the defective pixel with laser light to increase the resistance of the positive electrode, the negative electrode, or the light-emitting layer formed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, or to destroy these components.